Who's in United States Air Force

[Super Eta]

For the last 3 months i have been negotiating wether to join and i think i have finally made a decision to go after i graduate High School but before i enroll myself in the USAF i am looking for a bit of personal input on the Air Force.

Any comments are welcome

What are the Pros and Cons of the Joining the service?

Just the normal questions i guess.

[KenC]

Re: Who's in United States Air Force

For the last 3 months i have been negotiating wether to join and i think i have finally made a decision to go after i graduate High School but before i enroll myself in the USAF i am looking for a bit of personal input on the Air Force.

Any comments are welcome just nothing negative i dont really wanna hear it.

What are the Pros and Cons of the Joining the service?

Just the normal questions i guess.

You don't want any negative comments, but you want 'pros and cons'?

How many years of your life are you planning on giving them? What would you be doing? Am I correct to assume that you're doing this for $ for college?

[Super Eta]

Nevermind i will take any kind of feedback good or bad.

No i am not going to college as college is not for me at all just cant stand sitting in classrooms with my head in a book.

Money and benefits and i am hoping it will set me off in the right direction in life.

[KenC]

Well you can cross out financial benefits off of the list. You'll rake in a cool ~$12k per year to start off.
Unless you've got a really good reason to pursue the USAF (perhaps something such as free flying lessons for future plans of becoming a commercial airline pilot) I'd pass. Four years is a long time.

[M-technik-3]

Ok lot of factors, six year enlistee will be promoted after basic to E3 which you don't pin on till 18 months if you enlist for 4 if money is a big factor.

Job training the AF spend alot of money on training so figure on at least 3 months of ojt before you even goto your first base. Then there could be follow on training after that depending on job so It could take a year to even get to your assignment. What type of job are you interested in? How are your ASVAB scores honestly? Do you have a guarented job?

I have spent the last 16 years in so trust me I could sell you it or turn you away while you have the chance. But if you go with open head and choose wisely you could love it. I would recommend getting your commision and being an officer but school doesn't sound your bag. Listen to me I sound like a recuiter now maybe I should do that instead of flying.

[bimmerphile]

I was looking towards USAF quite seriously for a number of years before I decided medical school was teh way I wanted to go. I wouldn't go right after high-school. If I were to do it, I'd finish college, and then go in as an officer.

Of course, this doesn't help you if you're trying to avoid college altogether.

Even now, though, I sometimes want to drop my premed classes and take something towards aeronautical engineering.

A couple friends I went to highschool with are doing the 2 USAF options I'd lined out:

1 is going to Embry-Riddle, where he's getting an aeronautical engineering major, then enter the USAF to be a pilot.
The other is a the AFA.

Not to talk down the enlisted personnel (without which, the military would be a bunch of guys in "command" telling eachother what to do, and nobody doing anything), but it just wouldn't be for me.

Good luck.

[Diplomat]

If you still are under the age age of 23, the academy would be your best bet...long term benefits are amazing...so i hear. Im at the academy now and if you can put up with the geeks trying to play soldier than it is worth it. I plan on spend 4-5-6 yrs in air force special ops(combat weatherman, dont laugh). Ive always to go do something extreme and I think HALO jumps and submarine lockouts will do just fine 8) Plus ive already started the training for it. Tough shit but its fun. After that(my commitment goes up after 5 years, 10 years if you fly but i dont want to) Id get a job in Aquisitions to get some business experience. So 8 years of doing what i like and getting paid for it is fine for me. After thats up, i keep hearing about these headhunters who search only for guys who graduated form the service academies and are getting out of the military. In such a bad economy, us service academy grads dont really have to worry about that anymore...my bro is graduating from brown and hes having trouble finding a job. But at the same time ive gotta worry about people killing me so i guess itll even out. Good luck on your future decision, peace-hugh

[KenC]

If you still are under the age age of 23, the academy would be your best bet...long term benefits are amazing...so i hear. Im at the academy now and if you can put up with the geeks trying to play soldier than it is worth it. I plan on spend 4-5-6 yrs in air force special ops(combat weatherman, dont laugh). Ive always to go do something extreme and I think HALO jumps and submarine lockouts will do just fine 8) Plus ive already started the training for it. Tough shit but its fun. After that(my commitment goes up after 5 years, 10 years if you fly but i dont want to) Id get a job in Aquisitions to get some business experience. So 8 years of doing what i like and getting paid for it is fine for me. After thats up, i keep hearing about these headhunters who search only for guys who graduated form the service academies and are getting out of the military. In such a bad economy, us service academy grads dont really have to worry about that anymore...my bro is graduating from brown and hes having trouble finding a job. But at the same time ive gotta worry about people killing me so i guess itll even out. Good luck on your future decision, peace-hugh

You can't exactly walk into the AF Academy. They're extremely selective. I commend you on your superior academic performace, which undoubtedly led to your acceptance. (A good friend of my gf is at Westpoint studying to be a combat weatherman too lol)

[nando]

if you don't like studying I don't think you'll like being in the air force.. AFAIK they do a lot of learning and studying, especially if you want to be a pilot.

Honestly, if you don't want to go to college, unless you can start your own business and make your own fortune, look forward to making minimum wage and having dead end jobs for the rest of your life.

[Diplomat]

shyea right, the only reason i got in to the academy is because I was recruited for lacrosse. I dont know how in hell i got in. However, they are plenty of prior enlisted guys that have got in without having great board scores/gpa's. Moreover, those are the most useful and successfull cadets here.

Yea the combat weathermen of the army and air force are sort of seperate from eachother. The usaf CWX's are considered spec ops due to their training and most of the army combat weathermen are simply weathermen that are considered combatants. However, there is a branch of army spec ops that involves weathermen. its a very interesting career field and i cant wait to get started.

[Low Level E30]

I'm also in the Air Force.

Just like Greg, I could probably excite you about it equally as well as I could sour you away from it. That being said, I personally love my job.

If nothing else, it's a great place to start as a professional.

These are generalizations, granted - but right off the bat, you will be trained by people who know their shit in and out - you'll be working with equipment that can only be found in the armed forces - you'll be part of an organization that has a marked effect on world affairs, one with some real history to i,t and people in it that are proud to serve.

You'll come across plenty of examples of both fantastic and utterly terrible leadership - you'll also get to be an example of either of these things (or both) yourself.

Yeah, you do have to go to school when you start, but that's like anything - can't just leap into the job if you don't know what you're doing - gotta learn your shit. If you don't like school, then all I can say is, join the club. I doubt anyone truly LOVES to study - but it has to be done. You wouldn't be able to work on your E30 without any real knowledge of how it goes together. School is definitely not your job, though - you will get PLENTY of operational experience, especially nowadays with the Air Force deploying all over the world.

No matter what you decide to do, if you have any real hopes of trying to make something of yourself, you're only going to start off massively handicapped if you don't have a four-year degree. Can't get around that.

You could join the Air Force and have them help pay for school - then get out and go become a billionaire. It's not the romantic old-school notion of military men, like I grew up with - but this is what people do these days.

If you are serious about being good at what you do, sign up for a couple years and you won't regret it. You can make your own decision after that.

[robncircus]

I tried to join the Air Force but they wouldn't accept me (too many tattoos). So...I joined the Navy instead :D . I think the service is a good thing. You'll learn a lot about yourself and what you can accomplish. Since you're unsure you could always join the reserves and if you like it go active if you don't you're not in it full time.
Good luck
Rob

[latinobimmer]

Why the AF and not the Navy? Or any other service for that. I'm in the Navy, too. Just wondering, not criticizing or anything.

[Super Eta]

if you don't like studying I don't think you'll like being in the air force.. AFAIK they do a lot of learning and studying, especially if you want to be a pilot.

Honestly, if you don't want to go to college, unless you can start your own business and make your own fortune, look forward to making minimum wage and having dead end jobs for the rest of your life.

Exactly what im trying to avoid and that is being stuck at a dead end job making minimum wage at a job that i dont like and yes im not surprised that there is a bit classroom time in the service as you need to be taught to do what they want you to do and to do it correctly basicalling knowing what to do and whatever.

I am going to try my best to get in and what i have read so far is exactly what i was looking for which is input of those in the service and what they think of it before i go talk to a recruiter since sometimes they dont tell you everything.

Again Thank You to everyone who has posted so far.

[slaterd]

Hey I'm just bumping this instead of starting a new thread. Gonna hijack for a bit. Some of you may have noticed that I've been bouncing from job to job. Not gonna sound cliche but I've wanted to be a pilot since I was about 10 and have always been fascinated with aeronautics. Towards the end of highschool I was set on the Air Force but decided to get some college in first and I met a girl we all know how that goes. I've completed about 80 college credits in Engineering/Mathematics/Minor:Physics. Would this help me to get accepted into the pilot segment or some higher aeronautical program? Also, does anyone know of the waiting period for now, June 2012? Any extra info that you could give me would be greatly appreciated.